Childish Dreams
by Reevee21
Summary: As is the feel of defeat: Tabuu has enslaved Master Hand with an even more powerful spell and reverted every veteran and newcomer to statue. But even during the worst of defeat, a child's dreams can live on; Now, ten ordinary people will need to find and revive the smashers, head into the SSB world, and face Tabuu. Who are these people? Sent OCs, of course! *HIATUS*
1. Introduction

***Deep inhale* Okay, here we go, here we go...I've got this…*deep exhale***

**Hello, people of Fanfiction and guests alike! It is I, Reevee21! You may have heard of me from the stories ****_A Smasher's World _****and/or ****_Heirlooms? _****Well, here's yet another possible hit!**

**I ought to give you all a warning; this is just the introduction to the fic, and it'll stay that way until I finish ****_A Smasher's World. _****Luckily, since said fic is nearly over, you can expect random updates alongside the weekly Wednesday update! YAY!**

**The reason I'm posting this fic so early is because it's not any normal fic…*Dramatic close-up* IT'S AN OC-SUBMISSION FIC. YEA. I'M FINALLY DOING IT. CAPS LOCK ABUSE.**

**And so, without further ado, I present you the introduction of ****_SSB: Childish Dreams! _****The OC submission form and rules is at the bottom! Have fun!**

* * *

*~ SSB: Childish Dreams ~*

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of Nintendo's rightful characters or my reader's rightful characters, I only own this story in itself and the plot that comes with it. If Nintendo is reading this…can I get an autograph?_

* * *

Childish little toys.

That's what they were, that's what they all were: pathetic, useless, so-claimed _magical _little bits of a kid's imagination. At least, that's what he thought they were when he first saw them. Then he saw them as something else: Annoying. Also stubborn (for interfering with his plans), stupid (for daring to go up against him in the first place), loyal (for that one dark sorcerer's attempts at earning his master's favor), and very good at gathering with other pathetic toys.

Again, just a kid's imaginary heroes.

This 'kid' himself was behind him, bound by golden chains to a brick wall. He was curled into a fist, a white mound of fingers with a ghostly wrist leading away to nowhere. He was as quiet and still as stone, a kid having been scolded by its parent.

For what?

He could have done anything with these lands, of plain and forest, mountain and river, tunnel and arena, cloud and metal; but the hand behind him got in the way, him and his mentally unstable brother, and created a whole world of sprawling labyrinths, tricky battlefields, and levitating arenas for those child's playthings. It was not only useless; it was very, very rude.

_You may have been doing what you wanted before, _he thought, turning shadowed eyes to the trapped hand behind him. _But from here on, you'll be listening to me! _

He flipped back to the screen before him, the wall's only company in the empty void they were in. It was honed in on a galactic stage, more specifically the one toy whom had avoided him during his minion's collecting. He hadn't ever authorized a toy-collection in the first place, it just happened while the dark cannons were blasting and dying cries echoed through the air.

When the first had fallen, one of his more thoughtful underlings reached it and dragged it off the battlefield. He first thought the minion was betraying him and going to revive the statue in a more quiet location; instead, it shoved it behind one of the snoozing Towtow and went back to battle. Then it did it again, and again, until he eventually had a large stockpile of the statues. When they returned to him, it had offered them as gifts to him—or prizes, considering they were literally trophies and born to be displayed. He accepted, and now had a large sum of them somewhere in his lair.

But this one, one of the lucky five who had never met him before, had been avoiding his henchmen since day one. Teleporting out of their grasps and cannon fire, reading their every move with telepathy and psychic abilities, and simply fighting back with balls of shadows and high-powered mind waves.

But now, it was trapped. Trapped on one of its own home stages, ironically. The one with broken pillars holding up platforms, an underground section dotted with gems, and dragons that appeared in the background.

It was still fighting his minions off, but he noted its cautionary movements-not maneuvering about the stage, for instance. It stayed center and fought the enemies off before they could get within feet of him, keeping its eyes on the background where two kinds of great dragons were supposed to appear.

Eventually, it defeated his first wave of minions and he had to send more after the fighter. In that spot of calm, the eye of the storm, one of the dragons appeared: the pinkish one with pearled shoulders and a bipedal figure.

The fighter looked to it with a relieved expression, communicating in gentle mind-waves too subtle for him to hear from the screen.

_What's it doing? h_e thought, puzzled. _Talking sense into it? Ah well, I should release this wave while it's busy. _

And thus he did; two Reapers on both sides, not to mention vast amounts of different Primid. The fighter, realizing this, looked to the dragon with more alarm and seemed to beg for something.

The dragon took it in calmly, shooting cautionary glances at the approaching enemies every now and then.

When the Reapers reached the fighter, it stopped what it was doing and closed its eyes submissively when they raised their scythes. They both struck at once, causing major damage and the fighter to be implanted in the ground. There, it was no match for the dark cannon aimed for its aboveground body and was promptly turned to a statue.

He chuckled darkly at this: Finally, they were gone! All deactivated! Stored away where no one shall ever reach, veterans and newcomers alike!

The dragon the now-statue fighter had been conversing with bobbed its reptilian head in acknowledgement (or perhaps respect?) before throwing it back and roaring, loud enough to rattle his screen and knock the Primid off their feet.

He raised an eyebrow when the other dragon joined it, as well as the three humanoid monsters that occasionally appeared on-stage. It explained to them in growls, grunts, and hisses what the last fighter had apparently said.

They simultaneously nodded before the four newcomers disappeared in a flash.

It was then he felt a great shift through the area, glancing about warily before sensing the four's presence…

...in his trophy room.

If he had eyes, they would have widened at this plan. The fighter had revealed where the other fighter's locations were, and they had paused time to rescue them! (It was the blue dragon that froze time, Dialgia, but he can't seem to tell one Pokémon from another).

The four and the statues appeared back on the stage, all in the background, where his armies were powerless to reach. The pink one had been charging a large sum of power during this time and unleashed it through its arm, ripping a tear in the very fabric of space itself. All the statues, every hero and heroine, monster and man, vile and villainous, was shoved through the layer into another world.

The five monsters left without another sound, although his army stirred up in a nervous racket at what he would do to them. He himself was still figuring that out, but first, where had those idiotic toys gone?

Casting coded fingers over the screen's keyboard, he clicked certain buttons unceremoniously before finally pinpointing a spot: the only world where none of them were from, where the statues had been sent to in their miniature statue form.

He slammed a fist on the keyboard angrily. Here he was, so close to wielding this world forever, when that last fighter had messed up his plan and saved its fellow fighters!

His form quickly transported away to where his minions had docked, leaving a single word on the screen:

_Earth._

* * *

**Hmm…this sounds a lot like the introduction of ****_A Smasher's World. _****GEE, I WONDER WHY.**

**Anyway, I promised you guys a forum, and it will be here below! But first, I'd like to get some things out of the way:**

**First off, I need ten OCs. If I get any more or multiple OCs for the same position, the remainders will probably appear as background characters. The ten are as follows:**

**Wielder of Super Mario (with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Rosalina, Bowser Jr., and Dr. Mario)  
****Wielder of Legend of Zelda (with Link, Zelda, Gannondorf, Toon Link, and Sheik)  
****Wielder of Pokémon (with Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Mewtwo, Pokémon Trainer *or whatever your person calls him*, and Greninja)  
****Wielder of Kirby and Kid Icarus (with Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Pit, Palutena, and Dark Pit)  
****Wielder of Star Fox, Donkey Kong, and F-Zero (with Fox, Falco, Wolf, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Captain Falcon)  
****Wielder of the Third Parties (with Sonic, Solid Snake, Mega Man, and Pac-Man)  
Wielder of Fire Emblem (with Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucida, and Robin)  
Wielder of Metroid and Earthbound (Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Ness, and Lucas)  
Leader of the NES Generation (with Duck Hunt, Little Mac, Ice Climbers, R.O.B, and Mr. Game and Watch)  
Leader of the Wii Generation (with Olimar, Shulk, Wario, Wii Fit Trainer, Mii Fighters, and Yoshi)**

**"****Darn it, Reevee, can't you have one person for every company, like a normal person?!" **

**First off, you knew I was odd in the head when you first met me. Second, that would be a whole lotta people to remember! I'd like to keep it to ten, just so we can all remember names and appearances.**

**Now, for the forum! I LOVE MAKING THESE FORUMS, BY THE WAY!**

* * *

**Name: F**ull name, any nicknames

**Age: **Anywhere from 8 to 18 years.

**Appearance: **Hair color, skin color, common outfit, any noticeable disabilities or scars

**Personality: **Attitude, likes, fears, you get the idea.

**Wielder/Leader of…: **One of the ten listed above. It's preferable that you make it similar to their personality (i.e., wielder of Kirby and Kid Icarus being a cheery person).

**Background: **Previous homes and towns, personal experiences, maybe heritage?

**Home: **Current living area and general location. This takes place mainly on a seaside town known as Elkin, with farmers further inland, so you've got either a city-kid or country-kid option.

**Relations: **Friends, parents, siblings, local rivals, pets? They already know the others, but what kind of level is it?

**Gamer IQ: **Knowledge of games and experience with them. Just starting? Retro champion?

**Skills: **Any sports or hobbies that interest them?

**Sending it through a review is good enough for me! One I finish ****_A Smasher's World, _****I'll start this fic and update it weekly! Any Mary Sues will be wrapped in tin foil and used in Bowser's barbeque! I'll see you all again in a few weeks, hug your Eevee until then!**


	2. First

**Did you know I am the kind of person who gets everyone hyped up over something and then hits a ditch while writing the plot? Yea. Me neither.**

**Writer's Block aside, here's the first chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

*~First~*

The chilling, salt-stained wind harassed the right side of her jacket as she walked, aligned with the coast. The cloudy skies signified a storm was coming; and by the way it stretched as far as the eye could see, none of Elkin would be spared. The girl shivered in the cool afternoon air, not used to her new home quite yet, and pulled her backpack closer.

Meet Janise (Janice in English) Selpuveda, seventeen-year-old girl with a not-so-ordinary background and far-from-ordinary future. Her roots lie in Mexico, where her family used to live; under a week ago, they had moved to the outskirts of Elkin for a seasonal job.

She found no point in this cross-country move, as they had been perfectly situated in Tangamandapio (their old town—try saying it in one breath, I dare you). Or, at least, _she_ had been. But then they had to pack up and leave everything behind, including her own pet cat, just for the Autumn-exclusive job of harvesting Broccoli.

The joy.

At least she still had her games, a large collection from the _Zelda _franchise with a bit of _Fire Emblem _and _Kirby _sprinkled in. True to that game hoard, she was a diehard _Legend of Zelda _fan, to the point of irritating her younger brothers about it by spurting random knowledge. That stronghold was thick enough to prevent a complete depression, though she had yet to come across a Gamestop or other local video game seller...

But that's enough of the not-so-ordinary background part: let's have a look at the far-from-ordinary future, shall we?

As Janice was walking to the bus stop to catch a ride home, a golden gleam caught her attention. She pushed her dark hair out of the way to have a better look, seeing that it came from the half sand, half pebble beach. It was too shiny a gold to be an ordinary seashell or any other kind of washed-ashore object, and nothing else came to mind with a shine like that.

Curiosity got the better of her, and seeing how the bus wasn't anywhere near its stop, she hopped off the sidewalk and ran over to it. She plucked it from the ground with light brown hands and held it up to the little light that was shining through the clouds, confirming it to be a Toon Link Amiibo of some sort…

...but…normal Amiibos didn't have gold bases and a gray figure, or weigh as much as this one did. And its details were so precise, so much more than the normal plastic Amiibos sold at the store. And never had she met a fanatic with access to gold...

Janice let out a confused hum before looking around for an owner. Not a soul was nearby…but the city bus had just arrived at the stop. She pocketed the thing in her pack before zipping it up again and running for the bus, completely ignoring the wind chime's jingle that rang in her ears afterwards.

* * *

"Hey! Janice!"

"What is it, Axel?" Janice groaned, having been interrupted from her homework by the five-year-old boy.

He ran over to the side of her desk, holding something behind his back, face beaming just like any other child's. Axel shared the same dark hair and skin as the rest of the family, as with thirteen-year-old Felipe—who was leaning on the door frame.

She set down her pencil and looked in his direction with stern, "I am not amused" eyes; Algebra was not any easier in another state, and she was looking forward to getting it done and clearing a few dungeons.

"You wouldn't believe what we found in the forest today!" Axel chirped.

"Oh?" she inquired for politeness' sake. "A nest or something?"

"You're-way-off," Axel sing-songed.

She sighed and looked back to her paper, asking, "well, what?"

Something hard knocked against the wood when Axel placed something just above the paper, and she had to hold in a gasp. It was a Zelda figurine, with a golden base and carving just like…

"There's another?" she squeaked.

"Whaddya mean, there's another?" Felipe finally made himself known. "We just found it in this old shack, sitting on a high perch like the princess she is…"

He went silent when she set the Toon Link figurine next to his lady. Janice had forgot about the figurine as the day wore on, seeing how nothing about it was off but the weird coloring and unusually heavy weight. She did find it strange how something with an obviously _golden_ base would be lost on a beach, and with such incredible detail in the stone; could it have been some shipment's lost cargo? Or just a fanatic's work? But now that she saw this…

"I found it on the beach earlier, but I don't know how it got there or what it was," she elaborated, "and seeing how there's two…"

"That's not even the thing we found," Felipe argued.

"Hm?"

"Can we show her after dinner?" Axel asked. "She'll know what it is…"

"_What_ is it?" Janice groaned. "A figure hoard or something?"

"No," Felipe stated dryly.

"Fine then. Show me tonight, and let me finish this algebra," she glowered, turning back to the work. Both boys left, Axel leaving the Zelda behind as she continued her work and ponder them both.

* * *

"If this day gets anymore weird, I swear to Din…"

"Din?"

"You know…Din. Jeesh, you've got less _Zelda_ knowledge than the Meme nerd," Janice huffed.

"Felipe, what's she talking about?" Axel complained to the older brother.

"Who knows," Felipe shrugged nonchalantly.

The three siblings were walking to where the 'thing' was, at the break of dusk and dawn of the storm. The winds were mostly blocked by all the overgrown brambles and towering trees, just letting a bit of rustling leaves tell that the storm was right at their doorstep.

"Anyway, hurry up!" he dismissed. "Or we'll be caught in the storm!"

"Okay, fine!" Janice shouted after him as the boy ran ahead.

They had also sneaked out of the house to do this, leaving her hoping that this was actually something important and not a prank or stupid reason to go out in a storm. The weather report promised harsh winds and lightning with this one…

"AHA! Found it!"

"Good! Let's see it and get out of here!" she shouted, tripping over a few tree roots in her haste to catch up with both boys.

They had led her to a small clearing in the forest, barely large enough for her to lie down in. The shadows of both darkness and shrubbery didn't dare creep into the sheltered space, only a few brave twigs and leaves poking into the oddly cylinder-shaped place. The branches kept it well-hidden from above as well, except a single spot, which she imagined would shine a perfect spot…light…

"No…way…" she gaped.

"So you know what it is—"

"HECK YEA I KNOW WHAT IT IS!"

Centered in the clearing was a pedestal, with a large, stone base and smaller step. Embedded in that small step, probably through the large one as well, was a sword. It was a sword of average length, with a long, purple handle that stretched out like wings near the base. If one looked close enough, they would see a certain series' emblem etched into it.

"It's the Master Sword! You guys found the Master Sword!…in the real world!" she added, only a step away from it.

"Oh, so it's Zelda's sword?" Axel asked.

"His name is Link, ya dork," she groaned.

"From the game? What's a fictional sword doing in our local forest?" Felipe asked.

"That's what I was wondering," Janice hummed pensively. "I wonder if all these things are related…"

"Can we pull it out?"

"NO."

"Aw, why not?" Axel begged.

"I don't feel like taking a seven-year nap today…and only Link can pull it out," Janice stated.

"Are you sure?" Felipe inquired mischeviously.

"Yes," she nodded. "…Felipe, don't do it."

"Oh, come on," Felipe groaned. "If it's shown up, then why not at least try? I'll put it right back in, I swear."

"No."

"…Please?"

"NO. We are not touching the Blade of Evil's—AXEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Axel had reached the sword while they argued and touched the handle out of curiosity, immediately recoiling when it let out an odd, green pulse. The blast of energy was barely enough to rustle the plants, but it washed over them with just enough force to make it easy imagining that a ghost was breathing down your neck.

"Uh…what was that…?" Felipe glanced around, like it would suddenly summon a monster of some kind.

"I don't know…" Janice sighed. A raindrop suddenly nailed her shoulder. "We should probably get going," she urged the boys back, "I seriously don't want to explain all this to mom."

"Okay," Axel sighed dejectedly, pushing away the bushes to get back. Janice sent one last look at the Master Sword before heading back, and immediately felt glad that she did. A flash of cloud-to-cloud lightning made something silver light up at the opposite edge of the clearing, making her pause just to make sure her overwhelmed mind hadn't started to play tricks.

She approached the familiar object that was stabbed into the ground more carefully than she had the Master Sword, seeing how it wasn't secured to a pedestal or something similar. No, the silver baton's sharp tip was embedded into the ground and looked like it had been haphazardly thrown, not implanted firmly. She plucked it up and looked it over, confirming the curls near the handle and the small sparkles that flew from it…

"JANICE!"

"Alright, alright!" she huffed at Felipe's impatience, pocketing the Wind Waker and darting after the two. She was actually pretty tempted to use it to somehow postpone the storm, but she wasn't a Hero of Winds and would probably end up causing a hurricane. If there was a Toon Link figurine and the Wind Waker…then…was there possibly...

…she shook the thought that the Hero of Twilight himself could be there and began to run, not wanting to be the one to explain what happened to her parents.

* * *

**Introducing Janice, TheAmazingNabo's OC! *Applause***

**This was the first OC sent, so naturally she would be the first one to go; but I've gotten more requests for the Legend of Zelda Wielder than anyone else!**

**Funny story behind this chapter, I actually had one version all typed up before she responded to my question over something basic; I had to go back and type the whole thing again, BUT HEY, it's here and that's what matters.**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter! Be sure to review, follow, and favorite on your way out, keep on reading, hug those Eevee, and I'll see you next Wednesday! BYE FOR NOW!**

**…****_swing your arms, from side to side, C'MON, IT'S TIME TO GO, DO THE MARIO! BADADADADA DUDADA DUDA, DUDADA, BADADADADA, DADADA! BADADADADA, DUDADA, DUDADA-_**


	3. Second

**Before I start this chapter, I'm gonna do my PM inbox a favor and declare this to the world: ALL OC SPOTS ARE TAKEN! I appreciate all the characters you guys have been sending me, but I've already picked a lineup and plotted quite a few chapters with them.**

**...Oh? You'd like to know just who I chose? *Troll face* Why on earth would I let you in on that? I'd find it much more fun to show them off, one or two at a time.**

**With those little details out of the way, here's chapter two! Thanks again for reading!**

* * *

*~Second~*

"I swear, this is going to kill me someday…come on…_come ooooon…_"

The skill required to remove an egg from a nest without falling off the ladder, disturb other hens, dropping her heavy book bag, or getting distracted by the dog was immense. The preteen managed to get one step higher, which let her strikingly green eyes look over the nesting loft for the target.

Ayame Tempest did this every afternoon, right after school, be it rain, sun, or snow. It was done for her aunt Karma, the closest relative who could take her in after her parents died. She was never told how they met their end, and was perfectly satisfied with her kind aunt; though the black lab, she could do without.

Wendy herself was currently pacing the length of the coop, occasionally bumping against the unsteady ladder and offsetting the balance even more. She seemed to be just waiting for her to drop an egg, thus spilling yoke all over the henhouse floor, thus the already-frustrated teen letting her lick it up.

Ayame had a heart attack when the dog knocked against her support and it shook with the force, and didn't want to have an actual fall, so quickly looked over the nests just one last time. She removed a feather from her brown-gold, curled hair in the process, which had somehow fluttered up there on its own. With all the stray feathers, it wasn't too surprising some of them would get an attitude…

Just then, a ray of sun came in from between the boards, sparkling on an object in what she thought was an empty nest. She looked over to it and put on a very confused expression; how on earth could a hen drag up _that? _

"A Yoshi amiibo?" she asked out loud, taking it from the nest. The weight surprised her and she called out a "whoa!" when the ladder shook again.

It was as heavy as stone, and looked to be made of it—a golden base to match. There were a few eggshells sprinkled around where it had been sitting, like it had hatched from an egg itself. How those shells got there, she never found out, but decided to study the figure closer later…preferably when she _wasn't _on a six-foot-high ladder.

She made her way down, placing the figurine amongst the eggs in the basket, and mock-scolded Wendy for being such a pain. Ayame tended to be a sweet girl, but if an annoying dog won't leave you alone when your life's at risk…

"Come on, Wendy, let's go inside already," she sighed, exiting the coop with the dog on her heels. And somewhere in the back of her mind, a strange voice sang using joyous hums.

* * *

The fun way was also the interesting way, according to destiny.

Later that day, Ayame was taking a stroll on the boundary between two fields, one of wheat and one of wild plants. The one of wheat was a pure yellow from above, a sea of gold that splashed grasshoppers and other insects when you brushed your hand against it. The other was much more diverse, mostly green grasses but with so many splotches of wildflowers it made all attempts at a description futile.

Wendy happily jumped along at her side, disturbing a practical flock of insects with every lope. She had been told to get some more fresh air, common adult-speak for "get your lazy butt off the couch and take the dog for a walk", but either way it didn't matter - the Mario games she so enjoyed were best with more than one player, anyway.

That was the problem with her favorite games: they required friends, and she had no friends. She also only had two remotes, for whenever her aunt joined, leaving her to try and complete the levels…alone. She had saved more toads than she could keep count of, and had probably met every CPU the game could throw at her, but it still wasn't the same as having an actual mind playing along with her. So, naturally, it didn't take much encouragement for her to take a walk along the property.

She was nearing the corner of the two fields when Wendy suddenly took off into the wheat field.

"Hey!" Ayame called after her, eventually going in as well. The plants were higher than her and the property wasn't even theirs (she was much prouder of calling the wild plants her own), but that wasn't much to spare for her own dog.

A chase ensued, the black lab's tail being the only thing she could really spot while they twisted and turned in formations she couldn't spare to think about. Just when she thought the dog was going to stop, Wendy just put on another burst of energy that forced her to move faster as well.

Soon enough, a shout of surprise and sound of a body hitting the ground cued her where the dog was; she parted through the last plants to see that Wendy had ran to the edge of the forest, not to mention tackled a stranger to the ground.

"Wendy!" Ayame scolded. "Bad! What have we told you about attacks?!"

She pried the dog off the older girl by means of collar-tugging, letting the tan-skinned teen get off the ground. "I'm so, so sorry, Wendy just ran off and I couldn't find her…" she apologized.

"N-no problem," the other girl coughed. "Is this your property? I didn't mean to come on it…"

"No, it's the neighbors," she confessed. "I really shouldn't be out here either…"

The girl smiled before bending over to pick something off the ground she had dropped.

"Wait, is that your figure?"

"Hm? Oh, it's something I found on the beach the other day," she confessed, pocketing the Toon Link again. "Why, do you know someone who's missing one?"

"No, it's just that I have one a lot like it," Ayame answered, digging the Yoshi out of her black jeans to show it. She discovered that she was actually quite the mess at the moment, wheat seeds stuck everywhere in her tangled hair and long, purple shirt.

"That's weird…" the girl hummed. "I'm Janice, by the way."

"Sweet! I'm Ayame," she introduced. "Hey, do you think you could show me where this forest ends? I kind of got myself lost in the field…"

"Not good with direction, eh?" Janice smirked.

"W-well, it was a big field…and…okay, maybe," Ayame shrugged helplessly, admitting defeat.

Janice chuckled a little before waving in the direction that the wildflowers grew, "I think it's that way. I think."

"You think?" Ayame rose an eyebrow skeptically.

"Fifty…sixty percent sure," Janice squinted into the background while calculating.

"That's not a very good percent."

"Fine, I'll show you."

* * *

They walked along the forest line, Wendy occasionally jumping ahead in her enthusiasm. As it turns out, the fifty-forty percent chance that Janice was wrong had showed up on the first route they tried. Then the second, then the third…

They talked on the way to wherever they were heading, over family and incidents or just the little things that showed up in their path. Then they got on the subject of games, and the conversation really took off; Ayame learned that Janice was a diehard _Legend of Zelda_ fan (kind of coincidental that she found Toon Link...), a series Ayame herself had previously looked into. But the mechanics were confusing to her, letting Janice open the topic over plots or songs or whatever else came on Link's quests.

"So wait, why do they call it Legend of Zelda…if the main character's named Link?" she asked after yet another rerouting to find Ayame's property.

"Gamers have tried to find that out for centuries…" Janice stated in a mock-serious tone. "…I have no idea."

"It doesn't make much—AUUUUUUUGH!" Ayame ended in a scream as she slipped into a lowered spot of ground, then found herself rolling through them. The leaves swatted at her face, blinding her until she eventually stopped flat on her back.

"You alright there?" Janice asked.

"Yea…what the heck is this stuff?" Ayame asked.

"…I think that's wild garlic."

"EWWWW!"

Janice broke out laughing as Ayame made her way back up the short slope, smelling intensely of garlic and leaves. "How does garlic even GROW in this place?!" she growled while Janice kept giggling.

"It might be some gardener's" Janice sighed. "But you really do look—and smell—like you just got beaten up by a forest."

Ayame glared playfully before sighing in defeat, bits of pollen coming off with her breath. "I am _so _going to need a bath tonight…"

"Hey, you've got a piece on your shoulder there," Janice noted, picking off a clove of particularly strange garlic.

"…huh. I'm not a garlic expert, but that thing has a face," Ayame noted.

True, the dark green clove seemed to have purple eyes and a mouth, but was otherwise normal; the human-shaped roots helped the picture of a human, though.

"Great, now my fingers smell like garlic!" Janice groaned while Ayame pocketed the odd plant.

"At least Wendy didn't—WENDY, NO!"

Wendy turned around and let out a loud bark in the two girl's direction, neck-deep in the wild garlic and not seeming to give a rat's rear about it.

"Dogs," Janice sighed, shaking her head as Ayame wadded back into the plants again to fetch the mischievous dog.

"Did something happen? I heard a shout."

Both girls looked up to see a teenager staring at them from a few feet away.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUUUN…you know what? Fanfiction would be awesome if it had sound effects. Or it could at least, like, read you the story out loud so that all my sound effects would be heard. But who knows! Maybe some of you out there are reading this ten years from now, on your fancy new tablets that read out loud and…incorporate song and stuff. ANYWHO,**

**Introducing Ayako Zetra's OC, Ayame! *Applause*! She was originally supposed to be the Legend of Zelda wielder, but since that spot was taken, Zetra-Chan changed it when I PM-ed her. I HAVE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS!**

**Thanks for reading, guys! You keep this fic going! You, and really big truckloads of inspiration! I ask that you follow/favorite for even more OC fun, and leaving reviews never hurt anybody!**

**Hug an Eevee, you know you want to, and I'll see you next Wednesday! YOU'RE THE BEST!**

**…**

**…****wait a minute…**

**…**

**…*****mock Announcer voice* ****_I WANNA BE, THE VERY BEST, THAT NO ONE EVER WAS…TO CATCH THEM IS MY REAL TEST, TO TRAIN THEM IS MA CAUUUUUSE-_**


	4. Third

**YEA, yea, I'm ridiculously late and I'm sorry for it. Wednesday was incredibly busy, and my mom wouldn't let me get on the laptop, and there was this _beautiful _novel that I couldn't put down all day ("Books of Umber: Happenstance Found", to be specific), AND THEN we visited the ice skating rink and I couldn't get back till four or so!**

**Again, I'm so sorry for keeping you all in suspense. Please enjoy the belated chapter, though!**

* * *

*~Third~*

While Janice, Felipe, and Axel were dealing with the shock of the Master Sword in their local forest, the thunderstorm was directly over the city of Elkin. And it was hitting _hard. _Rain whiplashed the buildings in waves, pounding on the windowsills and rooftops, dripping into leaks and cracks. Thunder boomed outside, roaring like an animal, and lightning would often accompany it with bright cloud-to-cloud flashes.

Anyone unlucky enough to be outside was soaked to the bone within a minute, and anyone inside was scared the lightning might hit the taller buildings. Except for a select few: those who were brave, those who were sleeping, and a twelve-year-old who was too occupied in a game to notice.

Jenna Talum kept her Eevee-brown eyes on the screen of her DS system, the loud sounds of the storm playing in the background of her battle. She was using an electric type, ironically, and a smile tugged at her lips whenever the words "_PIKACHU used THUNDERBOLT!" _and a flash of lightning reached her senses at the same time.

She was laying on her chest, specifically on a bed, lithe form under a blanket while her rusty brown hair was sprawled over her shoulders. The room wasn't entirely dark, a lamp on her bedside proving this point, so she had no reason to set the device down for the sake of sleep. She would probably just get a nightmare again, anyway...

Right as Jenna had victory in her grasp, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tense up. Not a split-second later, a deafening _BOOM_ and a flash of pure white light encased the building, causing her to shriek and the lamp to snap off. The DS's duel screens left her hands when she jumped and snapped shut, leaving her in total darkness.

The building had just been hit by lightning.

"For the love of Arceus…!" she muttered, a hand over her racing heart. Her long hair was now standing on end, though from fear or static, she had no idea.

After confirming that the side-effects of the lightning had worn off the apartment, she began feeling around for her game again. It couldn't have been dropped far, could it? Then again, this darkness was as thick as an Octillery's ink shot…

Deeming it nowhere near her (or her feet), Jenna slid off the bed and began feeling her way to the door. Several toe-stubbing injuries and discoveries of random junk later, Jenna finally found the door and opened it into the apartment's kitchen. There was usually a flashlight kept on top of the fridge, and she also managed to find that after stirring up a population of dust bunnies. And finally finding the light source, she turned it on and sent the beam of light towards her room.

But…

...then again…

...what does a lightning strike look like? This was a one-in-a-million event here; that lightning could have struck any building, but it struck HER building. And it couldn't be all that bad now that the electric effects were gone…

Curiosity won her over, and she slipped on her navy blue hoodie to investigate. Fortunate for her, the floor she lived on wasn't too far from the roof, the generator downstairs was being swarmed by most of the building's staff, and the dark warded off anyone else from coming; it was like the universe _wanted _her to check it out.

The pounding of her feet matched the pounding of the rain, her breath panting in time with the thunder. Apparently, the storm didn't care what or who it struck; she did, however, and finally made it to the roof's door. She hesitated before touching the cool metal of the door handle. Sure, it was lightning…but it was _lightning. _And if it struck once, it was a pretty high percentage it would hit again… J

enna shook the negative thoughts out of her head. She'd made it this far, right?

Barely parting the door, she peeked outside. The rain made a repetitive tapping sound on the metal pipes and heaters exposed on the roof, and a duller plinking on the concrete. A huge scorch mark was centered on the roof, and splayed outwards like someone had dropped a black water balloon on the place. Nearby metal was seared and twisted into awkward, strange shapes.

"…huh," she blinked. "Never expected lightning to look-…"

she stopped when something gold caught her eye, right in the center of the lightning burn. Something small, grey…and distinctively mouse-shaped.

* * *

Well, this was awkward.

It wasn't just because she had caught two teenagers and a dog fishing themselves out of a patch of awful-smelling plants, it was also because she had caught them with a figurine in her hands. The Ivysaur she found looked to be made of the same material as the Pikachu, and was snagged in some tree roots when she first saw it. Then there had been a shout from somewhere else in the forest, apparently being the younger girl's, and she had come to investigate.

What exactly was Jenna doing in the forest in the first place? It was actually a bit of a long story, involving missing the bus and falling into some shrubbery before being chased off by a guard dog…

"Did something happen? I heard a shout," she spoke up, catching the two's attention. Her suspicion and curiosity was hidden under her usual mask of nonchalance, and she swiftly hid the Ivysaur in her jean pocket—Pikachu was nestled in the other one.

"Oh, miss klutzy here just tripped into a garlic patch," the seventeen-year-old shrugged.

The younger girl (though truthfully, she looked around Jenna's age) gave an indignant shout of "Hey!"

The black lab loped out of the pit and instantly began sniffing Jenna down, the girl following and tugging back her dog in a practiced manner. The reek that surrounded the lab instantly made Jenna recoil, though the dog just kept following her and panting excitably until the girl could fully pull her back. "Wendy, I swear, you're just a big ball of trouble today…" she muttered.

Jenna stepped back one more time and crossed her arms casually, and through some act of Arceus himself, opened the part of Ivysaur that was still sticking out to the public's eye.

The garlic-scented girl immediately perked up. "Wait, is that Ivysaur your's?" she asked. "'Cause we have some other statues a lot like it…"

"Oh? No, it's not," Jenna dismissed. "I just found it around here earlier."

"Ah well, worth a shot," the girl smiled anyway. "My name's Ayame, by the way. Over there is Janice."

Janice waved.

"Jenna," she stated curtly. "Either of you know the path back to the city?"

"What is it with these people and getting lost in woods?" Janice sighed. "No, we were just looking for Ayame's home. I just moved here, so I have no clue."

"Is that why you kept getting us lost?" Ayame asked.

"…maybe."

"Really?"

"I'm sure it's the field."

"…_really?" _

"Okay, so maybe I'm bad at directions!" Janice groaned, flinging her hands into the air. "It's like a dang SPACESHIP around here! I DON'T KNOW THESE CONTROLS!"

Jenna smirked slightly.

Right before she joined the duo (trio, including Wendy) in trying to navigate the area, a small tremor shook the ground.

"…do earthquakes happen in Elkin often? I think I just felt one," Janice asked. The earth beneath their feet shivered again, this time enough to make Wendy cower.

"Not that I know of," Jenna shrugged.

"Then what—"

A small flock of birds took off from the nearby woods, scared off from the snapping tree branches and shuddering shrubbery. Several heavy footsteps made the ground tremble slightly as a shadow appeared, something huge that was crouched beneath the trees. A low growling followed, further spooking Wendy, and the sunlight caught onto the pearly white teeth of some enormous beast.

"…oh crud," Ayame whimpered.

Jenna could hardly get back in time as the thing jumped where she was standing, and she stood in a defensive position as the beast roared. It had to be five times taller than an average man, with a gargantuan head and large mouth—the stark white teeth stood out from its green 'lips'. A mane of yellow-orange leaves fanned out from the back of its red, white-spotted head, making him look like a king. It had two long, leaf-like arms and a large torso, apparently capable of walking because of two footless legs. It appeared to be wearing a pair of red boxer shorts, pattered with white polka-dots, but its skin was a plant green everywhere else.

"PETEY?!"

"Who?!" Janice shouted back to Ayame, though yipped and had to move from her spot when the overgrown plant slammed a cage where she was standing. it was armed with two, large enough to contain an ostrich safely.

"Please tell me that isn't Petey Piranha! Or we're doomed!" Ayame continued, beginning to walk backwards. Wendy stayed behind her as she tried getting away, only for her to realize that the plant's direction followed her. Or namely, the Yoshi figure she was holding.

When he began _following_ her, however…

"Ayame, Jenna, run," Janice ordered, standing between them.

"Are you insane?! You'll die!" Jenna barked.

"Listen, I'll distract it while you get someplace it can't reach!" she explained with all the seniority an older sister could have. "Simple, alright?"

"Well, okay, then, C'MON WENDY!" Ayame yelled, bolting from the spot with Wendy and Jenna on her tail.

Janice had to continually shift spots when Petey Piranha tried walking around her, a cartoony-looking scene ensuing for about half a minute before Petey got irritated and braced himself. Janice barely got out of the way in time before he jumped on her spot and banged his duel cages about, crushing the wheat flat.

He took off after the other two girls, slowly catching up to them. Janice held her breath, her heart banging like a caged bird in her chest, as they were almost upon the heavy shrubbery and yet Petey was almost upon them…nine yards to the plants…six yards to the girls…

SLAM!

"Ow!" Ayame hissed when she couldn't stop in time, instead hitting the iron bars that had found their way around her.

Jenna skidded to a stop with Wendy, a few feet away from where Petey had thrown his open cage, and her eyes went wide when the monster caught up to her. Before she could step in and try to free her, a huge glob of acidic saliva found its way in her path; Petey gave some form of a laugh before snatching Ayame's cage's handle and bounding away with huge, earth-shaking leaps.

The field grew very quiet. Any wheat that wasn't crushed in the incident was gently rustled by the wind, like it was comforting the surviving plants. Janice made her way over to Jenna and Wendy at a walk, energy used up from when she had tried blocking a three-story-tall plant, while the girl and dog stared after Petey.

Wendy whimpered and lowered her head, Jenna's mask of emotionless bravery shattered into a dumbstruck frown. Ayame was just captured by the enemy, and they didn't even know there WAS an enemy.

* * *

***Pulls cardboard box over self***

***Face appears as an Octan-codec-styled message* Zetra, please don't kill me.**

**Ayame's kidnapping actually helps bring several members of the team together; namely, the FE, Metroid/Mother, LoZ, and Pokémon wielders. IT'S LIKE SUBSPACE EMISSARY!**

**I'll have to admit, though…I'm having a butt load of trouble plotting this sucker out. It might wind up on a hiatus around chapter ten until my brain stops malfunctioning and I can think of something. But don't worry, I'll have some weekly-updater to keep you satisfied—**

**_Heirlooms _****fans: YAY!**

**…*****sets early draft of ASW 2 down* dang it.**

**ANYWHO, thanks for reading, guys! I'd love it if you could hit that little follow/favorite button down there, maybe leave a review voicing your thoughts (I'm in a cardboard box, so hopefully Zetra won't murder me) (or Chewbacca, we had an incident with an Eevee being strangled a few chapters back), hug your Eevee with LOVE, and I'll see you next week! BYE FOR NOW! **


	5. Fourth

*~ Fourth ~*

_Back on the first day…_

The skies were overcast and gray, the clouds casting a dark silver shadow over everything while the sunlight tried to penetrate through. It illuminated the clouds with light grays and foggy whites, like bubbly watercolor on a gray backdrop, and yet still couldn't peek through the rain-laden clouds for what was happening below.

That was truly a sad thing, since it was about to miss something interesting.

A girl halfway over fifteen years was walking home at a fast pace, nearly skipping out of the hyper attitude that shown in her hazel, green-flecked eyes. The blocked rays of sun managed to catch the lighter streaks in her shoulder-blade-length brown hair as she bounced along. How she wasn't the least bit warm in her garnet-colored sweater was solid proof that autumn was coming on full-blast, as leaves brushed by her skinny jeans in the wind—signaling a storm, but she could care less.

Alyssa Baxters tended to be headstrong and a think-first-ask-questions-later type of gal, and always had a crazy energy with everything. Currently, she was heading home; the school bus was long gone by the time she finally got out of the forsaken temple of learning, and she was never able to keep still on one, anyway. Her Burmese Mountain dog and parents were probably going to be worried when she didn't show up on the bus, like they always were after that fateful day on the mountains, but she was sure she could still get home on time without any interruptions.

At least, that was her actual intention. Shines of gold from random alleyways do that to a person.

"…do I see a shiny?" she perked when it persisted in the corner of her eye, stopping at the entrance to it. She looked down the place forlornly, strewn with garbage and shadows like a calico cat. Graffiti one couldn't repeat out loud (mainly because it was so water-streaked and old) was displayed on the red-bricked walls, and cardboard boxes were stacked against the metal cans mostly containing the stench-ridden garbage…

…but something gold and shiny was sitting at the end, the treasure after the traps, and she was too curious to care.

Stepping over the obstacles, Alyssa made it to her prize; it was a perfect figurine replication of Little Mac, placed right in front of a torn punching bag for effect.

"Oh!" she said out loud, picking it up and holding it to the light. "You're kind of new for being thrown out, aren't you?"

The statue glared at an unseen enemy, pulled into a defensive position that faced towards the entrance of the alley. Ironical…

"Isn't a school girl like you a little young to be traveling alone?"

Alyssa whipped around, a shout of surprise locked in her throat as she faced the shady-looking character who had snuck up to the front of the alley. He was leaned up casually against one of the buildings, tattoos creeping out from his neck and shoulders, eyes gleaming in a not-so-friendly way.

"I'm fifteen and a half," she protested, lowering the Little Mac figurine, "and was just on my way out."

"Oh, really…?" he drawled, stepping closer. The decreasing amount of personal space startled her, and she hid the Little Mac behind her while trying to gain ground again. Strangers like these were never good, instinct screamed. But with him blocking a quick getaway, and her utter lack of an ability to teleport or fly, she looked pretty doo—

CLANG!

"OW! What the—" The man whipped around to face a European-looking boy with olive skin and black hair. He was bent over slightly and looked to be the one who threw the trash can lid at the back of the man's head.

Alyssa took the chance and bolted in between their stare-down and the wall, not stopping to look back or hear the stream of curses. She tightly swerved a sidewalk corner, breath fast and taking in the cold, crisp air, not even noticing the steps behind her. Or the heavier steps behind them.

The kid from earlier eventually showed up at her side, asking, "you alright?"

"Yea…thanks!" Alyssa chirped back between pants.

His green eyes lit up with a small grin while they continued to run from the stranger, ensuing in a chase past several homes and streets. When the man finally paused for breath, holding his knees and bending over while wheezing, the two teens had completely left the nearby area; he left, not noticing the two as they were tensely pressed against a wall.

* * *

"William, huh?"

"Yea," the boy confirmed, eyes kept to the ground. A pebble was being kicked between his feet like a tiny, bumpy soccer ball, the sidewalk his playing field as he walked with the girl home.

Alyssa and he both lived in the suburbs, apparently, and the escort was more out of safety than awkward curtsey. Even if the latter was how he felt about it. Alyssa, or 'Lyssa' as she had introduced, was happy to go along with it; they both lived in the neighborhood, anyway, and she could make this shy guy open up.

"You're that William who's, like, five grades ahead, right?" Alyssa asked suddenly when the name roused her memory.

"Err, three grades, actually," he rubbed the back of his head and discarded the pebble into the street.

"That's still impressive, I mean…_how?!" _Alyssa harshly breathed the last word.

He chuckled a little at her gape. It wasn't from study alone - heaven forbid those long, boring nights of homework others complained about - he just found himself skilled in that genre. "I guess…because I have…the ultimate power of brains?" he shrugged in a joking manner.

Alyssa giggled at the thought.

While they were walking, a cardboard box found itself in William's path; his foot knocked against it, and something small skidded against the concrete below from inside. He turned to it, asking, "what the…"

"Jeesh, whoever put out their recycling missed it by a long shot," Alyssa sighed, turning to look at the nearest house—which was several feet until you reached the driveway's end.

William, meanwhile, tilted it upwards and looked inside. A figurine somewhat like Alyssa's was placed inside, of a man in gray with a dark green bandana around his forehead.

"Hey, if you know who that is," he asked, gesturing to her Little Mac, "do you know who this guy is?"

Alyssa squinted at it, the box under William's arm as he held it to her. "No…sorry," she shrugged with a nervous smile. "I just have a NES, so it might be some newer character?"

"He looks a bit violent for a Nintendo character..." he doubted.

"Hey, that looks like Snake!"

The two fifteen-year-olds looked over to where a girl about two years younger than them was approaching. She wore a pink shirt and denim jeans (why everyone was wearing jeans, who knows), her white tennis shoes hitting the sidewalk hard as she ran to them, curly brown hair bouncing along as well. A statue was in her hand as well, one William recognized as SSB's interpretation of Wario.

"Snake? Snake who?" Alyssa prompted.

"Solid Snake, from the _Metal Gear_ series!" the girl chirped. "My brother plays those games all the time!"

"Oh," William muttered. He was more of a Nintendo-and-Capcom type of person, _Metal Gear_ was a new one in his book…

"So he's not either of your guy's? Because, honestly, this isn't my Wario," the girl sighed.

"Nope."

"Nadda."

He had to restrain himself for Alyssa's improper grammar, being the top grammar Nazi in his class.

"Dang it. Know anyone who does?" the girl cocked her head. "No, we just kind of found these off the street—literally," Alyssa added, sending the box a glance. "Who in their right mind leaves golden stuff out in public, anyway?"

"I dunno," the girl shrugged.

Again, restraint for the sake of politeness was required. "Excuse me, but you haven't happened to see a shady-looking guy around here, haven't you?" he interjected.

"No, why?" the girl inquired.

"He had me cornered in an alleyway earlier!" Alyssa reported before jabbing a thumb towards William. "And William here saved me!"

"It wasn't really heroic enough to be called a 'save'…" he muttered in the background, blushing a bit from the thought of him swooping in and saving a damsel in distress.

"Cool! Oh yea, my name's Megan," the girl introduced.

"Call me Lyssa," Alyssa introduced.

"William," the boy said quietly.

Megan joined them on their way home; she lived in the city and was traveling to the nearest bus stop, but the prospect of some kind of offender in the neighborhood convinced her to join.

Then William asked what exactly _Metal Gear _was, leading to half an explanation since Megan herself was far more Nintendo than her brother. So was Alyssa, with her eBay-auction NES…hopefully she at least knew of the more recent games… Once again, he was a Nintendo nerd and a bit of a Mega Man fanboy. This 'Solid Snake' character was very foreign to him, but he ended up keeping the statue. He didn't trust a recently-met girl's brother to keep it.

"Well, this is my place," Alyssa sighed, stopping at a house. A Burmese Mountain Dog lifted its head up from the porch, and his tail began waving like a flag at his owner.

"Good meeting you!" Megan chirped. "We should really do this again sometime, though. I can't confess my nerdom to anyone else outside my family, really…"

William nodded in agreement. He was a pretty shy type; how the two brought him out was a mystery to him.

"Hey, wait, that guy's still out there, right?" Alyssa asked.

"Uh, yea-" Megan answered before being cut off.

"And we still need to find out who's these statues are, right…?"

"Where are you taking this?" William asked.

"Are you guys open for tonight?" she continued, ignoring William's question as well.

"Yea…I think I can spare awhile," Megan nodded.

"How about we meet up in the local park, then?" she finally asked. "Hunt down these guys' owners and-slash-or that weird man? Like in all those fiction books and movies or something."

"Sure," William shrugged. "I don't really have anything on my plate, either."

"Okay then!" Megan smiled. "Six, seven-o-clock work for you?"

"Alright."

"Sure thing!"

"O-kay! See you guys tonight!"

Later on, he would wonder why he ever accepted coming to the meeting. Yes, it had made things easier later on and lead him on a truly awesome adventure…but if he knew what would be coming, he probably would have stayed home. But he didn't, and that night was the second stepping stone to two world's worth of trouble…

* * *

**Don't mind me, I'll just casually foreshadow these events so thickly it's like I'm putting eye shadow on my story…I'm kidding, I don't do makeup.**

**INTRODUCING, Marin-Kit, TheHobkinAuthor, and pokemonfan67's OCs: Alyssa, William, and Megan! *APPLAUSE*! **

**Alyssa has a ****_beautifully _****thought-up backstory that you'll be seeing pretty soon; Megan was pretty family-oriented compared to the other OCs, giving me the opportunity for even more characters; and TheHobkinAuthor was kind enough to redo his OC's forum when it looked a bit too perfect, giving us the shy William that I prefer MUCH more over the last one. BIG, GARGANTUAN ****_THANKS_**** to you three!**

**Hoi, a quick warning about that italicized line there at the top; since I want this thing to take place over a few weeks and not months, most of these meetings will take place on the first and second days as opposed to all being on separate days. Gives a Majora's Mask kind of feel, yea?**

**Thanks for reading, guys! Be sure to do us all a favor and review, follow, and favorite, your support keeps this fic from being abandoned! I planned three or so more chapters for you guys! JUST FOR YOU! And hug those Eevee, meet me back here next Wednesday for the next chapter! Bye for now!**


	6. Fifth

*~ Fifth ~*

_Back on the first day…_

A typical school bus tended to have several layers in its atmosphere. The bottommost layer was filled with the stale and stinky air of sweaty footwear and whatever unappealing objects had slipped out of backpacks, populated with stray pencils and several pounds of lint. Only the bravest and boredest dared to look down there, and few came back without pinching their nostrils shut.

The next layer, ranging the length of the seats, had different variations of breathability depending on the season. Fall, for instance, meant that the chilled air slipping through the windows mercifully granted seat-huggers a breath of fresh oxygen.

And the final, top layer was always full of conversation; greetings and phrases being thrown from seat to seat, always loud and always ringing against the metal. It was like a mobile lunch room, with all the groups gathered and chatting and what-not.

All three layers changed depending on the amount of passengers, from incredibly lonely to densely packed. She, however, was unfortunate enough to have boarded the bus with fifty or so other students heading home; how she managed to find her own seat was a miracle.

Ena Julies looked out the window at the gathering storm clouds, pondering how bad this one would be. She happened to live in Elkin, and if the storm was looking this bad from a distance, it surely meant that she and her uncle would need to pack into the basement.

She sighed and shoved a lock of black hair out of the way, one not threaded with blond strands, surveying it once more with disbelieving hazel eyes. If it flash-flooded, she'd be late to school without question—and if it actually flooded, how would she make it to anything else? These thoughts and more entered her mind, and she ignored the girl standing next to her seat completely.

"Excuse me?"

The timid call drew Ena from her own flood of misfortunes, and she looked to the girl skeptically.

"Do you mind if I sit here…?" she asked.

A few moment's registration of the girl's strange outfit, but she finally answered, "Yea, sure."

The girl flashed a smile gratefully and plopped down next to her, sliding the prop fencing sword she held under the seat. She was wearing a red shirt with a white skirt, as well as gold-colored shoulder armor and a white cape. Her long, cyan-colored hair looked dyed, evident by a few dirty blond strands. There was no mistaking it; a cosplay.

And if Ena could recall, the person she was trying to mimic was Eirika from the fire emblem series. She might have actually heard of this girl, though; the shy thirteen-year-old no one asked about but the teachers (who were much in favor of the girl giving up her habit).

"…so…are you a gamer?" she asked after an awkward silence.

"Yea, I'm kind of a Nintendo geek…" the girl answered.

"'Kind of'?"

"If 'kind of' counts as only having a GameCube and GBA," she explained. This girl tended to be less shy in cosplay, evident by how she ignored the other kids' stares. It gave her bravery to be someone else. "What about you?" she asked.

"Me?" Ena confirmed. "I'm a wiki stalker. Curiosity, you know?"

The cosplayer grinned a bit, her eyes wandering down Ena's light blue dress. "Hey, not that there's anything wrong with your outfit, but…don't only girls wear dresses?"

Ena shot her a surprised look before letting out a slightly agitated sigh. "I happen to _be _a girl…"

"Oh! Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," the cosplayer whimpered, blushing in embarrassment.

"It's alright, it actually happens often," Ena sighed. Fourteen years old, and still mistaken for a guy. The long hair and dress should give it away, I mean, s_eriously… _

Such was the reason she tended to be an overachiever. It didn't really help that she was an avid gunner, the skill taught to her by her uncle often working against her when she was joined by 'fellow' guys. Maybe it was just her figure…?

"I'm Olivia, by the way," the cosplayer introduced. "You can call me Eirika!"

"Cool," Ena smiled. "I'm Ena. Say, where are you headed?"

"The library, I've got to study up for a report," Olivia answered.

"That's weird…I'm headed there, too," Ena's eyebrows lifted.

"Uh…destiny?" Olivia offered.

Now it was Ena's turn to chuckle.

Suddenly, the bus was jerked upwards, startling several as they passed the speed bump. On the way, something fell from Olivia's backpack and hit the floor. She gave an alarmed hum and plucked it back up again, holding it in the flat of her palm and dusting it off.

Ena noticed, asking, "Is that Marth?"

The prince was carved expertly into the…concrete, or whatever the gray material was; every cape fold and shaded color was made expertly, and it was fastened to a gold base like a figurine.

"I found him on the school steps," Olivia explained. "It didn't look like anyone's, so I picked it up, and then I heard this weird sound…"

"So that's why you were late on the bus?"

"Yea…I mean, I AM a pretty big nerd for Fire Emblem…"

"Well, it looks pretty cool," Ena whistled as Olivia tucked it back in her bag.

"Thanks," Olivia smiled.

* * *

Elkin's public library was cozy yet somewhat large, pressed between two buildings that towered over its two stories. For that reason, only the front wall had windows—as a back alley isn't very appealing to the eye. It had plenty of material, however, from the children's books downstairs to the rentable games to a fair share of junior novels, educational books, and biographies. It was quiet and clean and very homely, the three reasons Olivia loved it dearly.

She and Ena were both dropped off at the stop, and continued chatting about games until they were through the library doors and thus in its whispering-only range. Unfortunately, the two sections each were going to happened to be apart; while she was looking for enough books to fill in a blank project, Ena was only stopping by for some reading material.

"I guess I'll see you later, then?" Ena murmured.

"Yea…see you!" Olivia chirped quietly back. She***** sped-walked to the wildlife section while Ena wandered off to find some good reads, not giving a second look to the people who gave her outfit odd looks. The librarians themselves were mostly used to it—either that, or were too engrossed in their work to care.

She had actually stopped by here often to research how to make most of her cosplays, learning how to thread unique stitching or fake metal objects and the like. She'd learned the hard way that looking things up on the computer like that only lead to weird ads about sewing clubs…

Skidding to a stop, Olivia noted that she had the whole alley to herself. In fact, the rest of the library seemed pretty sparse guest-wise; the regulars must be at home, preparing for the storm. Actually, she should probably snatch these books and head out while she could as well.

But oh, the reads! Only a select few can get in and out of a library without books they hadn't planned on, and she was definitely not one of those select few.

Searching on the provided computer turned up results about good novels somewhat related to her project, prompting her to go and have a look, prompting her to see all the other stuff they had available. And when she finally got back to the wildlife, there were all those good books as well, and forking through _them _for facts about stuff she should know. Then back to searching, and getting distracted by the books they had on display…

Time seemed to have sprouted a Pegasus's wings as it sped past, minute after minute, page after page. The skies faded darker and darker, from both the incoming half-hurricane and the natural dusk.

Olivia hadn't noticed; she was in the middle of a good raccoon book before something from reality brought her out.

_CLANG! _

The initial metal-on-metal contact made her jump, her heart pounding even after realizing it was just something that had fallen from a shelf. Something…metal? Metal books aren't common in the library…if they exist.

Sliding a makeshift bookmark between the next two pages, she walked over to have a look-see.

It was a statue about half the size of her hand, large enough to be considered a toy but small enough so it wasn't an actual bookend. Olivia plucked it up and observed it; a recreation of Ness, but stone and with a metallic base.

…wait a minute…

Strolling back over and setting the Ness figure on the table she had been sitting at, she briefly went backpack-fishing for the Marth statuette. Setting them side-by-side, she made comparison: both were made of the same material, and were just far enough apart in size that they appeared the same way they would if they existed. Evidently, both made by the same fan/nerd/brand/whoever.

"A fanatic…?" she hummed.

Suddenly, a light went out.

Then another, this one closer.

She looked up worriedly as they continued to black out, one after the other in a row. What was this, a power outage? Kidnapping? Robbery?!

Finally, they were all off—and a door closed in the blackness. Add that to a key's slight scraping, and she could deem one thing…

The library had closed. And she had just been locked in.

* * *

**Great, my second-to-worse fear. Being locked up in a creepy building at night.**

**Introducing Ena and Olivia, PikaloverNYA and Twilight Joltik's OCs! *Applause*! But what does Ena wield? How will they get out of that library? What will happen next? Why do both their senders incorporate Pokemon in their names?! All this and more found out next Wednesday…except maybe that last one. A lot of people use Pokemon…*glances at penname* I should know.**

***= ONE THOUSAND WORD MARK! Maybe there's hope for this fic after all!**

**Thanks for reading, guys! Be sure to review, follow and favorite on your way out, keep an eye out for the next chapter, hug an Eevee, and meet me back here next Wednesday for another chapter of ****_Heir—_****I mean, ****_Childish Dreams!_**

**…****you know you have too many SSB fics when their names start getting mixed up…**


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